Large parts of Australia hit by wild weather

Large parts of Australia are being engulfed by severe winds, snow, wild surf and rain that are effecting Victoria, South Australia and New South Wales

Destructive winds have battered Australia’s south-eastern states, causing road accidents, power cuts and snapping the end off a popular pier.

Dozens of flights from airports in Sydney and Melbourne were also cancelled on Friday as winds gusted up to 120km/h in some areas.

Boats are rocked by strong winds at Botany Bay, in Sydney, New South Wales (NSW), Australia, 09 August 2019. A severe weather warning has been issued for parts of NSW with damaging winds and blizzard conditions forecast for much of the state’s east. EPA-EFE/PETER RAE

A child is in a critical condition after destructive winds lashing Australia’s south-east sent a tree falling onto a car over the iconic Black Spur road, north-east of Melbourne.

Authorities said part of the Frankston Pier in Melbourne had broken off as gales whipped up rough seas.

In Newcastle on Friday morning, gale-force winds ripped the roof off an aged care facility, and overnight Victoria registered 120km/h winds at Cape Otway, 98km/h at Warrnambool, and even 87/km/h along Melbourne’s seaside suburbs.

Meteorologists called it the region’s coldest weather system of the year.

“The last time south-eastern Australia saw a system of this intensity was in 2014,” a spokesman from the Bureau of Meteorology told the BBC.